The state of democracy in Malaysia is much better than its regional peers such as Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos, Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak said.
This, said Salleh, was according to The Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index 2016.
He added that Malaysia also ranked higher than Honduras, Guatemala, Bhutan and Qatar.
"This shows that the level of Malaysian democracy is not as bad as what some people claim. We are still a democratic country," he said in a blog post today.
However, the Democracy Index 2016 ranks Malaysia behind neighbours Indonesia and Philippines, which Salleh did not mention.
He said the vibrancy of democracy in Malaysia was also recognised by Freedom House's "Freedom in the World 2018" report.
Salleh noted although the report regarded Malaysia as only "partly-free", it was still better than Brunei, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.
He said "partly-free" did not mean that the government has denied the rights of its citizens.
"Some of the preventive acts (were implemented because) we have to maintain stability and peace in our nation. Is Malaysia safe? Of course," he wrote.
Again, Salleh did not mention that Indonesia, Philippines and Singapore scored better than Malaysia in the "Freedom in the World 2018" report.
He said Malaysians should be grateful that Malaysia was among the safest countries in the world, noting that it ranked 29 out of 163 countries and was ranked fifth safest in the Asia Pacific after New Zealand, Japan, Australia and Singapore.
"As citizens, we should be happy," he added. - Mkini
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